Sound suppressors for firearms are well known in the prior art and a variety of designs for such devices exist. The aim of a sound suppressor is to reduce the sound that emanates from the firing of a bullet from a firearm. This is typically done in most sound suppressors by reducing the pressure of the propellant gases which immediately follow the projectile out of the end of the firearm. It is the rush of these propellant gasses out of the end of the firearm that cause the loud sound that results from the firing of the gun to occur. By dissipating this pressure under which the gasses escape from the firearm, the amount of sound which is perceived when the gun is fired is significantly reduced. In addition, these devices may also be used to suppress the “flash” which occurs when a bullet is fired from a rifle.
The dissipation of the gasses from the rifle may be achieved in a variety of ways. One way that this may be done is to utilize baffles to deflect the passage of these propellant gases. The prior art includes a variety of complex baffle structures which generally function by allowing partial expansion of the gasses within a chamber that surrounds the core through which a projectile will pass, and then dissipating this gas through the various expansion chambers. Examples of some of these prior art embodiments include the devices shown in the following references: Finn, U.S. Pat. No. 4,588,043, Leasure, U.S. Pat. No. 5,164,535, Taguchi, U.S. Pat. No. 4,584,924, and Gaddini U.S. Pat. No. 6,575,074.
However with the use of a sound suppressor, a variety of other side effects may result which alter the efficacy of the use of the firearm. Some of the problems which exist and which result from the use of a sound suppressor include a loss of power to the projectile which is fired. This loss in power can detrimentally affect the power and trajectory of the projectile which is fired from the firearm, this in turn causes problems related to the accuracy of the firearm with the sound suppressor in place. Furthermore, the structure of some of the prior art suppressor devices are so delicate so as to limit or prevent the use of such devices in various environments. In addition, the particular design of the firearm can have various results related to the quantity of noise which is actually reduced. Some designs simply function to reduce noise better than others.
What is needed and desired therefore is a baffle for use in a sound suppressor that offers high levels of sound reduction, minimizes bullet yaw and enhances, or at the very least, maintains the normal accuracy of the firearm to which the suppressor is attached. The present invention achieves these desired aims.
Accordingly it is an object of this invention to provide a baffle for use in a sound suppressor for a firearm that reduces high levels of sound and flash from the discharge of the firearm yet has little or no detrimental effect on the accuracy of the fired projectile. Additional objects, advantages, and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description as follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following, or may be learned by practice of the invention.